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Kai Palmer enjoys a performance of dark themes but not without laughter and joyous comradery
Image by Kai Palmer
For King, for Queen, or for country? No matter the reason, innocent civilians have forever been pawns in the battles of destructive leaders, leaving people with no option but to think about survival.
German poet Bertolt Brecht wrote the classic play Mother Courage and Her Children back in 1939 set in the midst of The Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) which involved most of Europe and is considered one of the most devastating wars in human history. The play is deemed one of the greatest of its time and has since seen many stage and screen revisions, including the original, German film, Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder, which starred Brecht’s wife, and a 2006 play starring Meryl Streep.
Live Theatre present this current adaption with performance by Isango Ensemble, who interweave powerful, African culture and expression into the play, and Ensemble ’84, a remarkable troupe of actors from around Country Durham.
This version presents a more globalised perspective (with an exciting mix of South African and Geordie accents) and is enjoyably music-driven. Throughout, the whole cast show the best of their vocal abilities; even during spoken segments they all chirp, whisper or use percussion to amplify the atmosphere by building a constant, absorbing soundscape around each scene.
Paulina Malefane plays Annie Fierling, known as Mother Courage, as she follows the Swiss Army with her canteen wagon – accompanied by a team made up of her three children in the hopes of profiting from necessity during the conflict. Malefane presents the character as she’s known, but adds more: she’s spirited, sharp, perhaps bold, but ultimately foolish to the fact that her endless pursuit of profit is only going to harm her children. She also glides into opera-esque solos which show off her commanding vocal versatility.
When the war briefly pauses, Mother Courage is unexpectedly saddened and wonders how she’ll make her money. She explains that she was given her name because she continued to sell her goods even with enemies in sight and jokes that her bread would’ve gone stale otherwise.
Her persistence for profit has consequences, and one by one, Mother Courage’s children – Swiss Cheese (Joseph Hammal) and Eilif (Brodie Daniel), and Katrin (Noluthando Boqwana-Page) – all lose their lives to the war.
Despite the dark themes, the play is not without laughter or joyous comradery as each cast member breathes life into their character, symbolising the resilient bonds between humans even during testing times. They may in fact even be too lovable, as each time one of Courage’s children dies or is subject to abuse, the impact dismays the audience into silence. Sadly, the most difficult to love is Mother Courage herself, as Malefane’s dynamic representation shows the character’s naïve cruelty overpowering her love for her children.
There’s a reason this play remains so revered: in the time since the story was set, capitalism’s grip has barely loosened; in many ways, the world is kinder but governments have failed to tackle wealth inequality and today we have governments who still perpetrate and benefit from disorder, even if it’s not on their own land.
Brecht wrote the story in resistance to the then rise of the Nazis – with fascism on the rise again in the US and the UK, it’s as important as ever to remind people of the true cost of war, and that the only people who will profit from inciting hatred is the people at the top.
It’s a story of survival, not an easy one, but a realistic depiction of what people are driven to out of desperate, conditioned, self-preservation. This adaption tells the original story impeccably, with the bonus of bridging cultures and histories together in a triumphant defiance of war.
